Son of Simon Ndirangu Kahiu and Mary Wangeci, Father Michael Wamunyu was born on July 27, 1968, in Nyeri, Kenya. He is the fourth of eight siblings. In this video recorded in Rome, he recounts having met the Consolata Missionaries in Mathari, who invited him to become “one of them in the work they were carrying out there and throughout the country.”
By Jaime C. Patias *
After vocational discernment, Michael entered the Consolata philosophical seminary in Nairobi in 1990. He completed his novitiate in Sagana between 1993 and 1994, where he made his first religious profession. He was subsequently sent to study theology in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, among the first students of the new seminary. Unfortunately, due to the war in the country, he was unable to continue his studies in Kinshasa and was transferred to Nairobi, where he completed his theology course at Tangaza University.
After a pastoral experience, Michael was ordained a priest on September 23, 2000, and departed for a mission in Côte d’Ivoire, where he worked for 7 years. He then went to Burkina Faso for a preparatory course as a formator. In 2007, he went to work at the novitiate in Sagana. After four years, he took on the role of vice-rector at the “Allamano House” theological seminary in Nairobi.
Father Michael also had the opportunity to study and work for 12 years in Italy. The missionary is currently based on the outskirts of Nairobi, at the Parish of the Holy Innocents in Tassia, where he works alongside Fidei Donum priests from the Diocese of Turin.
“My first mission was in Côte d’Ivoire, where we established the community of Dianra with Fathers Flávio Pante and Ramón Lázaro. It was a village with no Christians. What struck me most was the community life, the life of prayer, the fraternity and communion. During that time, it was important for me to witness the commitment of the Christians, even though they were few. Baptizing people who came to the faith was a joy.”
Being a Sign of Consolation in the World
Father Michael reveals that before his ordination he wrote a message saying: “Lord, allow me to be a consolation to the world.”* “And that is precisely what I have tried to be in the various situations of mission, where I have encountered people with different needs and necessities, for whom I have tried to be a sign of consolation, giving them hope,” he explains. “I have also listened, advised, and accompanied – especially young people, but also Christian families. To broken families I try to give a message of hope so that they may feel me as a brother walking alongside them,” the missionary recounts.
On the occasion of the Jubilee of Hope and his priestly jubilee, Father Michael left a message. “In these 25 years of priestly ministry, I have always tried to be a man of consolation, dialogue, and listening, remembering and praying for those who ask for prayers. I tell them that every day, in the celebration of the Eucharist, we pray both for the deceased and for those who are in some way united with us. I believe that in this way I become a sign of consolation. For this I thank God for everything I have tried to do and to be over these 25 years. I give thanks and I want to continue to be a sign of hope and consolation in accompanying people,” Father Michael concludes.
* Father Jaime C. Patias, IMC, Secretariat for Communication.
